44 mag lever guns

[PapaG]

I have a pair of 44 mag lever guns, one a mid to late 1960s Winchester 94 my dad bought new, and an early (non safety) Marlin 94.
I have moulds for 429421, 429215 and 429244 along with a couple of Lees in RN, SWC, and RNFP. Sizing dies in .429, .430.
Any recommendations for these two rifles? 429421 has to be seated deep, I know.
Illinois has not joined the modern world with handgun caliber rifles for deer.
I'm looking for just under full power loads for 'yotes, hogs, and steel plates. My longest range at my farm/deer camp is 125 yards.
Have 2400, Unique, Universal, 4227, Trail Boss, Herco.
Curious as both have multigroove rifling (look like twins in the bore).
I've done well with my SBH, 29, and 77 in 44 with the gas check designs over 20 grains of 2400.

[Outpost75]

11 grains of Herco is a mighty good .44 mag loads for rifle or revolver, with all of the bullets you listed. I've not found the Microgroove, 36" twist barrels to be an issue with plainbased bullets in wheelweight alloy as long as you stay about 10% below max. loads. I like 9 grains of Unique, 7 grains of Bullseye or 16 grains of #2400 for "medium velocity" loads.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

for your Marlin you may need to size to .431 or .432 what part of the state are you in

[MT Chambers]

What difference does it make in what part of the state he lives, and what diameter he sizes to??

[PapaG]

dead nuts middle of the people's republic of Illinois. Land south west of home.

[PapaG]

Thanks, guys. I will make up a couple dozen of the Herco loads Kimi and try them in the two rifles, the 29 and the old three screw. Would be great to find a match.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

What difference does it make in what part of the state he lives, and what diameter he sizes to??
Just making some small talk with a fellow Illinois man if that's alright with you

[Tenbender]

Walked in to a local pawn shop this morning. Some guy just purchased a Marlin 44 mag lever gun.
Just my luck . My truck broke down. My brother inlaw has a 9mm I want but wont sell it. No deer at my deer stand. My wife's having a baby ? Sorry about that ! May not b mine lol My last two weeks sucks. Went to the brown bag store today. Tomorrow will be the same all over. I'm going to get a job. Retirement sucks !

[PapaG]

Ten, you'd better get a hold of David Allen Coe as I think you have a better basis for the best country and western song ever. Maybe something about rain, trains, nail, but you got most of it.
BTW, I love retirement. No job, no money, but lots of grandkids.

[Tenbender]

Ten, you'd better get a hold of David Allen Coe as I think you have a better basis for the best country and western song ever. Maybe something about rain, trains, nail, but you got most of it.
BTW, I love retirement. No job, no money, but lots of grandkids.

Maybe grandkids would help me ~! I have lotts of fish'in poles !

[44man]

Twist rate. 1 in 38' SELL THE GUN.

[Salmoneye]

What difference does it make in what part of the state he lives, and what diameter he sizes to??

Uh...

Because SAAMI barrel specs for .44 Mag Rifle are not the same as .44 Mag Pistol/Revolver...

Pistol groove is .429"

Rifle groove diameter is .431"

[17nut]

Start by slugging that Marlin.
$$$ for donuts it is a micro groove barrel and need really fat bullets in order to shoot good.

NOE makes the famous Ranch Dog bullet moulds:
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=71_81&products_id=224

And by the way the 1:38" barrel will shoot a 265gr just fine!

My Marlin 94 has an odd MG barrel in that it slugs .4295". I cast a 240gr RD bullet from 1:33 alloy and with a check i push them past 1750fps. Approatching 5k rounds without a cleaning.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Skydning/Marlin/R0012037_zpsffolees5.jpg (http://s295.photobucket.com/user/Chickenthief/media/Skydning/Marlin/R0012037_zpsffolees5.jpg.html)

[Shuz]

I have found that RNFP style boolits seem to feed best in my Rossi and Winchester .44 mags.

[44man]

And by the way the 1:38" barrel will shoot a 265gr just fine!
Nope, I have the RD mold and it casts large enough to go from .432" to .434" with lapped dies.
I do have a boolit I designed long ago that will shoot in the gun to 50 yards but it is not a good hunting boolit. At 100 it is still center of elephant.180071 50 yard lube test. I don't remember the weight but it has a short drive length, somewhere around 240 gr. I sold the gun to Jack Huntington to convert.

[longbow]

Two comments:

- as already said, the Marlin for sure as it will likely need a boolit of 0.432"+ I cast 0.434" for mine. Not sure about the Winchester but the SAAMI spec for rifles is larger groove diameter than pistol.
- SWC designs may not feed well in the Marlin. I had to make several modifications to get my Marlin to shoot SWC designs. RNFP or RN is better in my opinion.

Okay then a third comment:

- when you slug the Marlin, push the slug right through the bore and check for tight spots. Mine had tight spots under roll stamps and dovetails. I hand lapped them out which improved accuracy and stopped leading (along with fat boolits)

Can't comment on the Winchester as I do not have one.

Longbow

[Kraschenbirn]

I've got a pre-safety Marlin that's probably pretty close to yours...mine was made in 1971...and I shoot the Lee 240 gr. RN (246 gr. from my mold and alloy) PC'd and sized to .432 over 9 gr. of Unique. Iron-sight groups go about 2" at 50 yds.

If you're 'dead nuts middle of the state', we can't be too far apart...I'm about 5 miles due north of Memorial Stadium at the UIUC campus.

Bill

[JesterGrin_1]

The Marlin 1894 in .44 Mag is a handy little rifle but as far as accuracy is concerned it all depends on what each individual is looking for.

I had a darn nice Marlin 1894 SS .44 Mag but after hundreds of rounds of testing the best I could obtain is 2 1/2" to 2 3/4" groups at 100 yards with a 3x9-40 scope. But still at times it would open up to right at 3". So for myself I was not happy with the accuracy of the rifle no matter how nice it was.

So I sold it to someone else with full disclosure along with my loads to someone that felt it would suit there needs and purchased a Marlin 1895 GS JM in 45-70 Government of which was the best thing I could have done. As one can easily load the Marlin 1895 GS 45-70 Government from say maybe less than a .44 Special load to a stomping 45-70 Government load and everything in between with far better accuracy. As in less than 3/4" groups at 100 yards with a scope. :)

[flint45]

I have a Marlin 94 pre safety nice little gun but barrel has three tight spots tried fire lapping worked ok but still picky size boolits .431 j-words work betterI use it for close range fun shooting mostly. On the other hand I have a Marlin 95 micro groove with a perfet .458 bore with no tight spots it shoots all boolits I have molds for no problems just size them .459 good out to 200 yards. I wish the 94 had a barrel like that 95.

[JesterGrin_1]

I have a Marlin 94 pre safety nice little gun but barrel has three tight spots tried fire lapping worked ok but still picky size boolits .431 j-words work betterI use it for close range fun shooting mostly. On the other hand I have a Marlin 95 micro groove with a perfet .458 bore with no tight spots it shoots all boolits I have molds for no problems just size them .459 good out to 200 yards. I wish the 94 had a barrel like that 95.

You might do better sizing .460 for the Marlin 1895 but some do say that they can get away with sizing at .459. And I have to agree that it would be darn hard to beat the Marlin 1895 45-70 Government cartridge for its versatility as well as accuracy.

[flint45]

You might do better sizing .460 for the Marlin 1895 but some do say that they can get away with sizing at .459. And I have to agree that it would be darn hard to beat the Marlin 1895 45-70 Government cartridge for its versatility as well as accuracy.
Thanks I have tried that and also unsized at .462 same accuracy, the .459s shoot better then I can,getten old sucks! the .459 size die fits my old Cramer lube& sizer that uses the saco type dies the other.460 is for my Lyman sizer. I like the Cramer better.

[mark2935]

PapaG I can't speak about the Winchester, but my Marlin hates 2400. I've had good results with a 200gr. cowboy boolit & 5.7gr. Unique for the Marlin and a Ruger sbh. Right now the Marlin likes IMR 4227 with a 240gr. Sierra jacketed projectile. This is my hunting load for now. Hope this helps, good luck.

Mark2935

[Airman Basic]

Agree about the Marlin and 4227. Mine likes 25 grains and 245 grain Keith RCBS wadcutter.

[dogmower]

I have and old (pre safety) marlin 1894 in 44 mag. shot terrible with .429 cast 240 grainer over 11.5 grains unique (good load in my rossi trapper).
took the rifle apart, cleaned up the barrel channel in the forend, tightened everything from the receiver forward and went to a 240 grain sized .432 (Arsenal molds). shoots 3-4 inches at 200 meters (was 3-4 FEET before).
check out Arsenal molds. mine is the 245 rf plain based. they make a BEAUTIFUL mold, fast shipping, and reasonable prices.

[shoot-n-lead]

I finally got tired of whizzing with my Marlin 44...no joy with anything...just shoot jword's in it, now. It was not worth the effort that I was putting into trying to find what cast bullet in would shoot...5" at 100yds was the best I ever got.

It is the only gun that I have that I did not find a cast bullet for.